Frozen
by Lightningandashes
Summary: A continuation of where we were left at the end of Setup, with Castle and Beckett locked in and freezing to death, with no foreseeable way out. Based largely on the Canadian promo. One-shot


**AN: Basically a result of that evil evil cliffhanger. Just thought I'd add my version in among the rest before the episode comes out :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or Beckett, etc. and a good amount of the dialogue was stolen from the wonderful Canadian promo for next week's episode  
**

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The temperature in the compartment dropped steadily over the next several minutes, interspersed with metal clangs and crashes as Detective Beckett continued to throw herself at the door. Behind her Castle stood, frozen, casting glances between her and the body lying prone beneath him. Finally shaking himself free, he clambered off the platform and made his way around to stand at a safe distance from Beckett.

"Beckett," he said carefully, edging his way forward.

She didn't respond. Didn't even shoot a glance his way, just ducked her head and shoved against the door again. Just like every time before, the metal door clanged as it slammed into the rod holding it shut and Beckett fell back, hands on her knees, panting visible in the cold air. Then she stood up to full height and reared back. One more time; she'd get it open.

"Kate!" Castle tried again, moving so he was at her side.

"We have to get out- tell them about the bomb." She shook her head and started to move for the door. SLAM! Before Castle could so much as open his mouth she had rammed into the door again. No good. She stood up, started again.

"Come on," she muttered and threw herself forward, but this time Castle was ready for her. He grabbed onto her arm and spun her around to face him.

"Stop it," he said. "That's not doing us any good."

She yanked her arm out of his grasp. "Castle, there is a _bomb _ waiting in a van maybe 50 yards away from us," she threw out an arm in the general direction, " and I have a responsibility to keep it from getting away and going off." She narrowed her eyes. "Don't stand in my way."

Out of nowhere, Kate pulled out her gun and shot, three times, at the door.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Castle yelled and flung himself down, hands in the air. "What the hell was that?" he shouted, returning to full height.

She shrugged. "Sorry."

"I'm starting to think you're trying to get rid of me," he said, dusting the ice crystals off of his jacket.

"Oh no, you've got me," she said scathingly and holstered her gun. Striding back to the door she began running her fingers up and down the seam tugging and shoving against the metal. As for Castle: he let himself fall back onto the step, head, as always grinding out every grim possibility they faced, in his hands.

Several minutes passed before Beckett gave up. In full Kate fashion she slammed her hands against the cold metal, and slid heavily down the wall, with a muttered expletive that even Castle, all the way across the room, could make out quite distinctly. She shook slightly and gathered her coat closer around her, flipping the hood up and holding her hands tight against her chest.

This was Castle's cue to crawl over and situate himself beside her. He budged over as close as he knew she'd let him and nestled into his jacket. It would be a long wait.

Minutes later they were up and walking again, Beckett pacing the room and rubbing her arms. Castle held his place and jumped up and down to a fast tempo, chattering all the while.

"How cold do you think it is in here?" he asked as he rattled up and down.

"Well below freezing."

"Well," he countered, "at least there's not a..." he paused, "... heat wave."

She raised an eyebrow. "Very pun-y."

He shrugged. "It's what I do."

"Poor writer-boy, without his horde of adoring fans to appreciate his jokes," she said dryly.

"Nobody knows we're in here," she said solemnly. It had gotten cold enough that even Castle had descended into silence, for the most part anyway, and much as she hated to admit it, it wasn't helping her mood.

"C-cheer up," he said faux-brightly. "It could be worse." She shot him a look. "Alright, so it couldn't be much worse."

"I could really use a silver lining right about now," she pointed out.

"Wish I had one," he replied.

"Make one up," she ordered.

"I can't," he whined, "It's too cold."

"Thanks for reminding me about that." She tugged her hood closer around her ears and looked back to the door. When would someone come?

Minutes continued to pass. They gathered up together at the edge of the compartment, sidling as close to the warmth they knew was on the outside as they could get, and waited. What else was there to do?

Of course, Castle wouldn't be one just to let her freeze to death in peace, would he?

"So," he ventured, peering out of the corner of his eye at her, "you and Josh..." He let the sentence hang for a moment.

"Me and Josh," she stated back, teeth chattering.

"You looked... upset."

"I was upset," she replied.

"About?" he prodded.

She glared at him, mouth set in a hard line. "I thought I told you this already."

"We thought we were dying then, we're dying now, seems like the time to reinstate the conversation."

She didn't answer and shivered. "I don't want to talk about it."

He shrugged. "Your choice."

Kate coughed and pulled her knees in closer to her, trying, and failing, to hide the shaking that had begun to creep into her bones. She snuck a look at Castle and sure enough, he was staring at her with that wide-eyed puppy-dog look of concern all over his face.

"Cold?" he asked.

"C-course not," she replied and cursed the shake in her words. "You?"

"F-freezing. Help me out?"

He opened his arms and, after granting him an eye roll, she grudgingly moved into them. Immediately she burrowed into his chest and thanked God for the sudden, if small warmth that began to flow into her.

"E-enjoy the opportunity Ricky," she said dryly, "Only when we're dying."

Castle chuckled and she could feel the vibrations through his coat. "What better time is there?"

"Not dying would be preferable."

"If only we had that luxury."

Time crept by slowly, the cold with it, and soon enough she couldn't control the shaking, couldn't help but notice the prickling pain of the cold start to disappear from her legs in favor of total unfeeling. Her fingers were long gone, her hands with them, but her arms were still there, wrapped in Castle's warmth. If she could just hold on for a few minutes.

"Castle I can't feel anything," she finally said, several long minutes later. She hated herself for saying it and allowing Castle to see her weak enough to be willing _to_ say it, but her mind was descending further and further into the dark. She could hardly think anymore. Castle's arms were swiftly becoming more comfortable than her bed at home, and really, would it be that bad to just go to sleep?

"J-just a little longer Kate," he stuttered and pulled her closer to him, wrapping her up in his coat.

She couldn't go to sleep. She had to tell him something, something Rick needed to know. If only she could figure out what it was...

"I just," she started, but her voice cracked and she coughed into his shoulder. "I just," she began again, "wanted to let you know how much I l-" With that her hand dropped out of his, and her eyes fluttered shut.

"No, no no, please Kate," he said desperately and shook her, vainly rubbing his hands over her face. "Kate stay with me," he pleaded. "Come on, we're almost there, almost morning, they'll find us, please." He could feel his own voice dying away now, the last thing to go. He could hardly feel her anymore, held tight in his arms, and that above all should be the one thing he was allowed to feel. If he was going to die tonight, he'd much have rather held her first, but what sort of cruel joke was it to leave him numb in this last moment?

She was still breathing, just barely; he could see it in the air as she exhaled.

"Kate?" he began uncertainly, afraid of what'd he'd do if she didn't answer. "Kate?"

A soft "Hmm?" in response.

Thank God, he thought, as the relief coursed through him. "Did I- did I ever tell you what I planned for Nikki Heat in book four?" An almost imperceptible shake of the head. "N-no? Well, she and Rook- and yes, before you ask, he's still around, nagging her as always-"He swore he saw her lips turn up slightly at that, though the rest of her kept still. "Anyway, she and Rook are assigned this case where the victim-"

Just then a screech echoed through the container and doors were dragged open. Flashlights flitted around the small space before eventually landing on them.

"Beckett? Castle?"

Footsteps pounded into the container, but Castle couldn't bring himself to open his eyes to see who had come to their rescue. It didn't matter. They were safe.

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**Thanks for reading  
**


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